Color of His Eyes
by lil-hermione-at-heart
Summary: Everyone marvels over Harry Potter's eyes. What happens when no one can see them anymore? *** Hermione is mourning over the lost of her best friend and practical older brother. It's not only tearing her apart like it is to everyone else but it's pushing her close to madness! What does she do when she's had enough? And more, what happens a year later? Rated T for safety.


Chapter One-Color of His Eyes

Tears fall freely down her pale cheeks. Her brown curls stuck to the sides of her face as her body slipped down the wet tile until she was sat on the base of the shower. Her head pounded with the rhythm of her tears dropping onto her bare body. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead on them, arms tangled around her legs. A tear fell of her nose and slid down her smooth thigh.

"Hermione, open the door!" a voice shouted.

"No," she muttered weakly.

"Hermione, now!" It shouted again.

"NO!" she yelled as she got up and turned off the freezing water that froze her skin.

"Fine, I'll do it myself. MAXIMA BOMBARDA!" the voice yelled as the door burst into a million little pieces.

Hermione screamed as pieces of it hit her and jabbed into her skin.

A tall redhead barged in and picked up the trembling girl in his arms. He carried her into her room and laid her on the bed, covering her with blankets.

"What do you think you're doing?" he said firmly.

"I don't want to have to only remember him in memories! I want him back now! Why did he have to die, why did he have to go?" she said, shaking further, now with more tears falling down her face.

"Herms, none of us wanted Harry to…"

"Don't say it!" she spat at him, cutting him off. "He's not dead, he's not gone! Did anyone find a body? No. Did anyone see him die? No! He is still alive and I will find him!" she yelled, getting up and Apparating out.

A year later, no one had heard from Hermione, but they were sure she was still looking for their long-lost friend Harry Potter. Ron Weasley was still worried about her, not knowing where she had gone that afternoon. He had a hard enough time dealing with the loss of his best friend and brother, and then he had to explain to his mother what had happened.

After telling his mum that Hermione hadn't eaten nor slept in almost a week, Mrs. Weasley went crazy. Ron quickly escaped back to his and Hermione's flat before she could explode on him.

Hermione was searching everywhere, and that means EVERYWHERE! She would search pubs, motels, hotels, everything all over Europe. Just that had taken her almost the entire year. Now she was in her last country, England. She hadn't been here in such a long time, but it was the only place left to look before she left Europe.

"_I hope he's here, I know he's still alive. He has to be!" _ she thought to herself, just like she did every time she started searching a new place.

She started on one end, the end opposite her home and the Weasleys and everything she knew. Every step she took she felt like it was another step towards Harry.

"_I'm not letting you go this easily, Potter," _she thought to herself.

"_Good."_

She jumped at the sound of someone else's voice in her head.

"_What? Who are you? How did you get into my head?" _ she thought frantically, but didn't get a response.

"_Ok Granger, just calm down. You're just imagining things," _she thought, trying to calm herself.

She continued on, until she got to a dark house in the middle of a field with a graveyard behind it. She looked up and she saw a bright light coming out of one of the upper windows. A smile came across her face.

"_Little Hangleton. Interesting, Potter,"_ she thought as she ran into the house.

Ron was sitting on the couch in the living room of the Burrow, reading _The Daily Prophet_. He sighed and put it down on the coffee table he had bought his mother for her birthday a few months ago.

He got up and went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea. He glanced out the window, then did a double take. There, over the hill that was on the other side of the pond, were two figures walking towards the house. Because of the setting sun, all he could see was their silhouettes. As he squinted his eyes, he caught the sight of a black mop of hair on one and a bushy bunch of curls on the other.

"You're kidding me!" he whispered as he dropped the cup, hitting the ground and breaking into a million pieces, and dashed out of the house. He ran all the way to the edge of the lake that was closest to the house, and his jaw dropped at the two figures turned into the sight of his two best friends: Hermione Granger and Harry Potter.

"Oh…my…god…" Ron said quietly.

The other two saw him and sprinted over, throwing themselves at him in a bone-crushing hug.

Ron squeezed them both quickly, then backed away to confirm who has was looking at.

"You're kidding me. Harry?" he said in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's him. Trust me, I didn't believe it was him either when I first saw him, especially because of WHERE I found him," Hermione said, shooting a glance at Harry.

"Why? Where did you find him?" Ron asked, looking at Harry.

He was practically skin and bones. His hair was almost as long as his shoulders and he had some facial hair growing around his jaw and chin. He had his head slightly bowed and his hands shoved into his pockets.

"Little Hangleton," Hermione said.

"Harry, what in bloody hell were you doing there?" Ron spat at him, but the grin showing a bit.

"Because I knew no one would look there if anyone did believe I made it through the war, but unfortunately for me, I forgot about Hermione. She obviously didn't rule out any hiding places if she wandered over to that house," he said quietly, looking up at Ron.

His cheeks looked hallow and his eyes were very dim. The bright electric green they used to be had been replaced by a dull forest green color. The original adventurous spark in his eyes was gone. As Ron examined him, he noticed that Harry was back to his scrawny little boy look that Ron hadn't seen in almost 7 years. He looked a lot younger than 18.

"What were you staying there for, though? You could have hidden millions of places?" Ron said, trying to recover from the shocking form of Harry.

"Well, mainly because I wanted to find Voldemort's old journals, but it was an added bonus that I thought no one would look there. But, I was proven wrong," Harry said, looking down at Hermione and smiling.

Little did Ron noticed, Harry slipped his hand into Hermione's, lacing his fingers with hers. But just as quickly as Harry entwined their hands did he jerk away as Mrs. Weasley came bustling out of the house.

"Oh Merlin, Ron who…who…" she stammered as she scurried over.

"Mum, as hard as this is to believe, it is actually Harry," Ron said slowly, glancing between Harry and Mrs. Weasley smiling.

"Harry dear, is that seriously you?" she asked, putting her hands on the sides of his face.

Harry smirked his famous smirk as he put his hands on the top of her's. "Yes it is…Mum."

"Oh, I've got to tell Albus and Remus and Tonks and oh, and it's almost your birthday! We'll throw a party and tell everyone then! Ok we have a lot to do in three days!" she said as she ran back into the house to prepare.

"Well, welcome home, Harry," Ron said as the trio walked back into the house as well.

"Ok Harry, Hermione will come get you when everyone is seated and settled," Mrs. Weasley said after another 6 hours of preparing.

"Alright," Harry said as he closed Ron's door behind her and sat on the cot he spent endless nights on. He sighed as he ran his hand through his unruly hair.

"_As fun and great as these past few days have been, I still feel like I am still putting them in danger," _he thought to himself.

"_It's a habit of yours Harry. It's because the last time you were around them Voldemort was still alive. But he's gone, baby, he's gone." _

"_Whoa! Who's that?"_ Harry thought after hearing the voice in his head.

"_You'll meet me someday, darling. You'll see,"_ was all he heard.

Just after the voice disappeared, Hermione opened the door and motioned for him to follow.

He got up and followed her down the stairs and stopped at the very bottom so they still couldn't be seen.

"Molly, seriously, why do you want us here? Especially on Ha…his birthday?" the much weakened voice of Remus Lupin spoke.

"I know that Harry's"-people winced at his name- "death was very hard on us all, but I want you here because…"

"Because we have a surprise for you, and it's related to Harry's birthday," Hermione said, interrupting Mrs. Weasley as she stepped out of the shadows into view. She motioned for Harry to stay back, but it didn't go unnoticed. Remus looked confused at Hermione's action.

"I have spent the last year searching for something. I looked all over Europe; everywhere from the southern tip of Spain to the northern region of Finland. But as I returned to England, ready to give up, I found it. Friends, my family and his, my finding have helped me get over the loss of my brother, only because it's not a loss anymore. I hope it helps you too," she said as she turned around and motioned for him to come out of the shadows.

"'Cause you see, he's not dead. Harry's alive," she said as Harry came into the light at Hermione's side.

"Oh Merlin, am I seeing things?" Remus said his shock evident.

Mrs. Weasley had tears in her eyes, as did many people. All the faces of George, Ginny, Neville, Luna, Bill, Arthur, Albus, Remus, Tonks, and everyone who had ever known Harry that was still alive had shock, tears and joy on their faces.

"No Remus, you're not," Harry said, stepping forward and pulling Remus into a tight hug, a small smile on his face with a few tears of his own.

"Harry, I thought you were dead. I thought I lost the last connection, the last friend I ever truly had!" Remus said, pulling back.

"Well, I'm not dead," Harry said, smiling more.

"Don't ever leave us again. The war is finally over and I can't get my life back together if all of my friends and even their children are dead," Remus said.

"I won't leave you," Harry answered.

"Promise?" Hermione said, walking over behind him as Remus fell into the couch next to Tonks.

Harry turned around and wrapped his arms around her.

"I promise."


End file.
